Oilers Move Up by Edging Sharks

Ethan Moreau and Alex Selivanov scored third-period goals to give the Edmonton Oilers a 2-1 victory over the Sharks Monday night in San Jose.

The victory lifted Edmonton two points ahead of the Sharks and Phoenix and into sixth place in the Western Conference playoff race. The Oilers have 82 points to 80 for San Jose and Phoenix. The Ducks remained in ninth with 78 points.

Edmonton tied the score at 1:23 of the period when Selivanov scored on an eight-foot backhander that beat San Jose goaltender Steve Shields.

Moreau got the game-winner with 12:20 left when he picked up the rebound of Todd Marchant’s shot and scored on a 12-foot shot.

The Sharks scored 1:29 into the game on Todd Harvey’s goal. Edmonton goalie Tommy Salo stopped Jeff Friesen’s shot, but Harvey picked up the rebound and put it between Salo’s legs.

Salo was superb in the second period, as the Oilers withstood five San Jose power plays.

The loss was only San Jose’s third in 30 games (26-3-1) in which it has led after two periods. Conversely, the victory was only Edmonton’s third (3-22-3) in games in which it has trailed after two periods.

The Oilers are 4-2-1 in their last seven games; the Sharks 5-3-1 in their last nine.

Buffalo 5, Carolina 1--Three weeks ago, the Buffalo Sabres were a team desperate for offense. Then Doug Gilmour showed up.

Gilmour and Miroslav Satan each had a goal and three assists as the surging Sabres won their fourth in a row, defeating the Hurricanes at Raleigh, N.C.

Gilmour, acquired from Chicago before the March 14 trade deadline, became the 20th NHL player to record 1,300 career points with his third-period assist and he added Buffalo’s final goal with 8:29 left. Gilmour has scored in all seven games since the March 10 trade.

The Sabres played without captain Michael Peca, who began serving a two-game suspension for a forearm hit on Calgary’s Valeri Bure last week.

Colorado 3, Chicago 1--Milan Hejduk scored his second game-winning goal in as many nights and Joe Sakic extended his career-best point streak to 13 games with two assists to lead the Avalanche over the Blackhawks at Denver.

One day after beating the Dallas Stars with an overtime goal, Hejduk got his 33rd goal of the year with 2:30 left in Monday’s game. Sakic had 16 goals and nine assists in his last 13 games.

Detroit 6, New York Rangers 0--Chris Osgood made 40 saves and Steve Yzerman scored twice to lead the Red Wings over the Rangers at New York. In a two-day, home-and-home series, the Red Wings outscored the Rangers, 14-2.

The Rangers lost their fifth straight--outscored 27-10--and are 1-8-1 in 10 games. With four games left, the 11th-place Rangers trail Buffalo by five points for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Around the League

Nashville center Darren Turcotte retired, ending his 12-year NHL career. Turcotte, 32, had 195 goals and 216 assists in 635 games with the New York Rangers, Hartford, Winnipeg, San Jose, St. Louis and Nashville. He had a career-high 32 goals for New York in 1989-90. . . . Donald Brashear practiced for the first time since Boston’s Marty McSorley’s stick attack left the Vancouver forward with a concussion. Brashear hasn’t played since McSorley hit him over the head Feb. 21. He will join the team for a three-game trip that opens Wednesday in Detroit and could play as soon as next week.